&#65279;THE French Football Federation may not be able to bring the best out of Hatem Ben Arfa.

However, Alan Pardew and his Newcastle United backroom seem to have that off to a fine art – or at least that was the impression Geordie punters had as they walked away from St James’ Park in jubilant mood on Saturday night after beating a side which finished fourth last term.

Make no mistake, Newcastle rode their luck at times against Tottenham Hotspur and this was by no means a vintage performance.

However, it was the talismanic Frenchman who in the end made the difference in a game during which both sides spent long periods trying to suss each other out.

Ben Arfa is not flavour of the month with France after a moody outburst at Euro 2012 resulted in him being left out of Didier Deschamps’ first Les Bleus squad.

During his time at Newcastle’s he has sailed close to the wind twice too, but manager Pardew has demonstrated his man-management skills and proved he is worth the perseverance.

Especially when it all unfolds the way it did on Saturday night against Spurs.

Whether it has been a bit of kidology, a bit of humour, an arm round the shoulder or just a bit of a loving touch at times, United have played to Ben Arfa’s strengths.

Ben Arfa missed the majority of Newcastle’s pre-season programme with doubts over his fitness, yet it was a case of “all right on the night” in the season’s opening game at St James’ Park.

Of course it was not just about Ben Arfa as the Magpies again showed their togetherness by keeping Spurs at bay in the first half.

James Perch also gave a reason why Newcastle have not yet brought in another centre-back this summer by stepping in for Fabricio Coloccini with a competent display, while Tim Krul and Cheick Tiote proved why they are sought after talents.

If anybody looked likely to be able to break Tottenham’s resilience, though, it was Ben Arfa.

A clutch of first-half forward runs had Spurs panicking with his ability to get the Toon faithful on their feet clearly apparent in front of a packed house at St James’.

Ben Arfa seems happy to take on the responsibility as chief entertainer too.

Yet there was not too much of it on show elsewhere on the pitch in a first period which belonged to Spurs.

Some dogged defending by Newcastle combined with good fortune left Andre Villas-Boas frustrated in an opening 45 minutes in which the Magpies could not seem to get things going, Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse not enjoying a massive amount of early-season service.

Don’t forget Spurs were unlucky not to go ahead when Jermain Defoe smacked the base of a Gallowgate post and thankfully the rebound fell kindly for Davide Santon to sweep clear. The goal frame also wobbled when Aaron Lennon crossed perfectly for Gareth Bale, with the Welsh wizard seeing his powerful header cannon off the bar.

Newcastle, though, did not finish fifth by accident last season and, with the side still very much in the game at 0-0, the platform to improve and take the points in the second half had been put in place.

With Ben Arfa fully warmed up for proceedings in the second period, it was a piece of raw skill that helped break the deadlock.

The playmaker’s clever back heel picked out a rusty-looking Yohan Cabaye before Danny Simpson pumped in a right wing cross Spurs could only half clear. What came next was a superb piece of finishing from Demba Ba, who stroked home expertly to open the scoring.

Many were quick to point out Ba had not scored in the Premier League since February.

However, his next top-flight strike was always a case of when, not if.

Despite being deployed in a wider position last season, he had gone close to scoring in several of United’s last few games.

Having notched in pre-season against Monaco and SC Braga, it was clear Ba had simply been enduring the type of cold streak every striker will go through from time to time in their career.

Form is temporary. Class is permanent.

The game’s next big talking point came when Pardew became frustrated by the lack of a throw-in award which he felt linesman Stuart Burt should have spotted – resulting in a shove of frustration from the Toon boss.

With Pardew sent to the stands, the absence of United’s boss in the technical area seemed to disorientate Newcastle with Willie Donachie used to relay messages to the dugout from the stands.

Only 14 minutes remained when Defoe pounced to beat Tim Krul with a poacher’s finish at the Leazes End.

Newcastle reorganised and then the stage belonged to Ben Arfa again.

It was his quick thinking which led to a short corner with Cheick Tiote before he wriggled his way into the box and was upended. He then showed the supreme confidence to demand to take the spot-kick and promptly rolled home the winner to be the match-winning hero before soaking up the love on offer from the Gallowgate.

Ben Arfa deserved that affection, too.

United have lacked creativity and invention at times during pre-season and, while others will be used on the Europa League stage to showcase their talents, the big Premier League stage is made for Ben Arfa.

The mercurial Frenchman is made for a crowd who love to see an entertainer.

Long may this love-in continue if it conjures up nights like Saturday.

Ryder’s verdict: The magic and the madness of St James’ Park is officially back with us.&#65279;